Page 96 of In the Light of the Moon

I wanted so badly to thrust into her, but instead, I took her nipple into my mouth. She cried out, nearly a scream, and I growled around her sensitive, soft skin. I sucked and circled my tongue, let her feel the roughness and the prickles of my fangs.

My claws dug into the earth on either side of her, clinging to the last bit of control that I had until she was a begging mess beneath me.

Sylvie trembled and panted and moaned, and I moved to the other side. My mate enjoyed the danger my sharpness brought,knowing that she was always safe with me. When she threaded her fingers through my hair and traced the point of my ear, though, I couldn’t hold back any longer.

The moment I took her in one long, harsh thrust, I sank my fangs through her neck, and I was lost.

She was my mate regardless, but the intense locking of our connection was almost too much. She sobbed and cursed and rejoiced underneath me, and I let my hips retract and snap. Claiming her.

With one hand cradling the back of her head, and the other holding the curve of her waist, I fucked Sylvie into the earth beneath us. I mated her on the land that was ours, and her screams of ecstasy only made me hold on tighter, move deeper and harder.

As her inner walls tightened again around me, my knot began to swell until I couldn’t move anymore, and my own release broke through.

I filled and knotted her, my mate now claimed in every possible way.

When I finally released her throat, Sylvie caught my mouth in a deep, lazy kiss. She licked her blood off of my lips and tongue. I was flying, drunk on her and our bond that was somehow even stronger than before. Like we were always meant to find each other.

I pulled away to gaze down at her, but I didn’t need to see her face to know how she felt. Her scent sang of a deep peace, and as if an extension of myself, I felt it in my heart beside my own.

“I love you, Sylvie.”

Her sleepy grin with lips stained red made my heart feel like it was going to spill over. “I love you, too, Orion.”

We lay there, under the dark sky, until our bodies ceased trembling from pleasure and adrenaline. “Are you ready to go to bed, mo ghrá?” I traced the outline of the fresh mark with myclaw and felt an accompanying warmth in my healed mark from her.

“Yeah, although, I don’t know how—” She let loose a little squeak and tightened her arms and legs around me as I began to stand. There was no pulling out of her for a while yet, and though the cold didn’t much bother either of us, I wanted to clean our bodies and get my mate sleeping in my arms.

Sylvie clung to me, trusting me to take care of us. “Let’s go.” My arms easily supported her weight, and I turned us back toward the cabin after scooping up her fallen shirt. The shifting of our bodies sent ripples of pleasure between us.

I nuzzled my nose against Sylvie’s and felt the tickle of her curls against my face as I started into the forest. The trees swayed and the sky overhead began to lighten while we made our way home.

EPILOGUE

FIVE YEARS LATER

“Auntie!” My niece ran around the side of the dark green house, and, for the first time in weeks—months—my face split into a grin. I crouched down, letting my bags fall to the ground, and swept my arms open wide.

The little girl slammed into my chest with more force than was right for any four-year-old, but I managed to hold my own. I held her close and breathed in the cold and wild smell of her, of my family. I swayed with her in my arms, kissing her pale, rusty curls, and felt my eyes threaten to burst with tears.

This was already so different than what was waiting for me at home. Here, there was warmth. People who cared.

“Mona?” My brother’s voice reached my ears over my niece’s squealing, and I loosened my hold, just a bit, so that I could look over her little head.

“S’up, O?” I schooled my voice to flatness and just barely succeeded. My brother looked much the same, but he always seemed more settled now, since he’d found his mate. And his three years as Pack Leader made him even surer of himself.

Never one for my deflections or shenanigans, Orion just grunted and crossed his arms over his bare chest. I knew my brother had a full sleeve of tattoos, but they’d apparently spreadto encompass his right shoulder and part of his chest, now. His jeans had a series of stains on them, and I could see the dirt caked under his fingernails.

“Auntie Mona, you’re here!” My niece squealed again, and she disentangled her arms from our embrace to run around the front yard of my brother’s home. She was a Wolf pup through and through—she squealed, fuzzy braids bouncing around her, and I marveled at her dexterity as she leapt repeatedly in the air. She had far more dirt stains on her clothes than my brother had on his, and her cheeks smelled like tomato juice, as if she’d snuck one to eat while tending Sylvie’s garden.

“Ramona?” A softer, smoother voice came from the same direction my brother and niece had, and my eyes landed on my sister-in-law who cradled my nephew in her arms.

“Jesus, Sylvie, your tits are out,” I scoffed and held a hand to shield her bare breasts from my view. My sister-in-law was wearing a pair of loose, draw-string shorts and not a stitch of clothing as her top. Instead, she held her youngest at her breast, and he sleepily fed from her, eyes closed and completely unbothered by his sister’s outbursts.

Sylvie pushed her sunglasses up to the crown of her head and rolled her eyes. “Well, we weren’t expecting any company. It’s hot out, and it’s just easier with him,” she waved a hand toward the baby who wore only a cloth diaper and had a little fist curled against the plump curve of her breast.

“What is it, Mona? Did something happen?” My brother interrupted, always cutting to the chase.

“What do you mean?” I straightened and dusted off my jeans. Now that she was mentioning it, I was starting to sweat under my sweatshirt. From all my time inside lately, I’d barely registered the rapidly warming spring weather, and it was even warmer here than back home.

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